Smokin’ Barrel

14 February 2008

That's right, The Girl, My oldest daughter has become the next shooter in the clan. The Boy gracefully handed down the Keystone Crickett .22 rifle he started with to his little sis. And as it was he also handed down his knowledge and love for shooting. our first day at the range was a big day for my oldest princess, as it was for me and the Boy. Neither of us were sure how it would go down, You know, how long she would stay with it, or if the cold would turn her off. And at 5 years old she really hadn't shown too much interest in shooting other than shooting the bow with the Boy and an occasional shot with the BB gun. But nevertheless, she asked if she could come to the range, and there it begins.

Arriving at the range we walked her through all the safety rules, and the Boy walked her through the functions of her new rifle. We were now ready to shoot!! I sat her down at the shooting table, helped her load her first round of the Winchester .22 hollow points, resting the elbow of her support arm on the table, she pulled the cocking lever, peered through the peep sight at the 6" shoot-n-see target 20 yards away. After a moment she held her breath and squeezed the trigger. The rifle bucked gently and a green circle exploded onto the target just an inch or so south of the bulls-eye. With that first shot made, we cheered her on, and had a wonderful 2-3 hours of shooting.

Now I have learned something in this too. If you have read any of my previous posts you will know I'm not one who has much to do with pink, or purple or any of the more pastelly of colors. And there was a point in my life that I would have said that the plastic used in rifle stocks was chemically engineered to not allow any such pastelly color to adhere. I WAS WRONG. And I know this because the following day I found myself at Ace Hardware buying a can of purple, and a can of pink Krylon paint. As you can see in the new pic on the right, it adheres just fine.

All in all it is a wonderful new chapter, the relationship has grown stronger between her and the Boy, and she has been given something else that she feels good about. In closing let me say this, anything worth doing, is worth doing with your kids, and anything worth shooting, is worth teaching your kids how to shoot.

19 March 2007

My wife and I homeschool our kids, so this doesn't effect our family the way it does others. Let me start off by reminding everyone that the P.S.S. (public school system) is the most protected agency in our government. Therefore any criticism of the P.S.S. would fall under EXTREME POLITICAL INCORRECTNESS and anyone caught doing so would be put in stocks to have organically grown tomatoes thrown at them. That should explain why no one has heard this story from the AP.

WASHINGTON - Members of extremist groups have signed up as school bus drivers in the United States, counter terror officials said Friday, in a cautionary bulletin to police.Just so we understand each other, terrorists are driving kids school buses. Got it? good, it gets better.Asked about the alert notice, the FBI's Rich Kolko said "there are no threats, no plots and no history leading us to believe there is any reason for concern," although law enforcement agencies around the country were asked to watch out for kids' safety.There is no reason for concern?! Abdullah Akmed Ammanablowyouup is driving our kids to school and there isn't anything to fear? What happened when Camel farmers showed an interest in flying? For those of you scratching your head, September 11, 2001 happened. But when I typed "terrorists school bus" on Google, only 1 on the first page said anything about it. So don't expect anything to be done, no one wants to tarnish the P.S.S.'s pristine image. However, parents, you might want to think about driving your kids to school from now on, or you could just keep them home, anything to keep'em alive.

10 March 2007

As the resident "gun guy" at work, the most asked question by future pistoleros is "what is a good starter gun?", or "Ive been thinking about getting a gun, what do you think I should get?" There are as many answers to this as there are uninformed Democrats. See, it all depends on your size, what kind of shooting your gonna do, Is it for carry or recreation, things like that. On the size issue, a small framed woman would be right at home with a Walther P-22, or a Smith mod 65 ladysmith in .38 special. On the other hand, a buddy of mine who stands at 6' 8" and weighs in at just about 385, well, a 20mm anti-aircraft gun might be a good place to start. I tell people to feel as many different models as you can, every hand is different and you need to have the ability to reach the trigger comfortably, manipulate all the controls with one hand, and hold it out to acquire a good sight picture without a huge strain on your arm. Which means, if your 5' 4", and 125 pounds, a Desert Eagle is not for you no matter how cool you thought The Matrix was. Bottom line, If you can't hold the gun with one hand, work the controls with the same hand, and shoot it straight all at the same time, its not the gun for you, and you might be asking for trouble. What kind of shooting do you want to do? If you live in on of the 38 free states and your looking for a concealed carry weapon, I don't think an S&W 500 is for you. And on the other hand, The Charles Daly compact 1911 .45 acp won't make a very good hunting pistol. For plinkin, and just randomly wasting lead at the range, just about any full size service pistol is the way to go. (but if your looking for perfection, 1911 needs to be stamped somewhere on the slide, and the caliber needs to start with a 4, and end with a 5.) If your goin hunting for big 4 legged fuzzballs, any of S&W's or Rugers hand cannons would be quite appropriate. And for CCW, you can never go wrong with a compact 1911. There are a lot of good trainer pistols out there too. I have a Ruger mod, 22/45 and man it shoots good. It's the Ruger mark III with the grip angle and feel to match the 1911. Now if your like me, you pick up new bad habits almost on a weekly basis, so having a good 1911 trainer pistol can help work through your issues. And I recommend this less than $300 gun to anyone who wants to shoot the real thing, but needs to learn how first. Heck, even fighter pilots learn in trainer planes. You don't think Maverick and Goose took flight for the first time in an F-14 do you? Have Fun, shoot straight, and be safe.

08 March 2007

We have in this great land a system of government 2nd to none, the greatest citizen-base in the free (and unfree) world, and an economic system that allows any Tom, Dick, or Harry to be insanely rich if he chooses to apply himself. We also have the most powerful military to ever grace the globe. We are able to live in peace knowing our boys are over in sandland dealing with the only crackpots dumb enough to try and hurt us at home. I myself get up every morning and go to work, not worrying about whether my family will be safe when I return. With a country so great, and a freedom unheard of in the rest of the world, why is it that those we elect to be administrators of a country that pretty well takes care of itself, can do nothing but try and destroy each other. The petty disputes, the power-grabbing, the lieing and cheating, and the childish arguing are enough to make a man lose his mind. Example, September 11, 2001. 19 camel racers, funded by multiple countries from the Land of Sand plane-jack 4 passenger jets, and run 2 of them into the World Trade Center, 1 into the Pentagon, and 1 down into a Pennsylvania field. 3000 of our Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, and Sisters were killed that day. And how did we respond? BOOM, WHACK, BANG, POW, CRASH, or something along those lines. We had info that Saddam Insane was in cahoots with the bad guys, and he had some pretty bad boom sticks(WMD's) himself that he could give to those who believe evangelism and car-bombs are the same thing. So, reason and good sense says, "that boys got to go." So we got him. We haven't been hit in over 5 years, in 4 years at war, we have lost a record low 3000 troops(1000 a month in Vietnam), 2 countries that had women beaten or executed for allowing too much of her nose show in public are now on their way to being free democracies, and did I say that we haven't been attacked in 5 years? And those a little left of the center line can do nothing but "hate Bush" and anyone else who is dumb enough to choose conservatism as a way of life. Theres no banding together to fight a common enemy, just Bush lied, Bush is stupid, Bush is Hitler, the troops are the Gestapo, and the worst one yet, America is the greatest threat to world peace that we have today. This doesn't stop, its a never-ending schoolyard fight that never gets broken up. Aren't these guys supposed to be the most mature among us? We have been at war 4 years now, trying to stop those who would see us burn, and all the left has done is throw up roadblocks. Almost makes you wonder who's side their on. If they would put half the effort into fighting the bad guys that they put into fighting republicans, the middle east would be the worlds largest supplier of glass, and our boys would be home, cause there wouldn't be anyone left to fight. So, a message to all Democrats, You are fighting the wrong people!! If you want our troops home, help us fight the bad guys, and we can celebrate together. A message to Republicans, Beware of friendly Fire!!!

15 January 2007

The time to write is a luxury not recognized until that time is no more. But this is not a dead site, and I plan to continue jabbering on here whenever I can. So just check back from time to time and leave a comment or 2.Anyhow, my reason for writing was not to tell that. Another activity that becomes limited is shooting. I'll trade range time for the little girl in the below pictures anytime, not to mention the other 4 little ones running around here. But today me and the boy made it out to the range to try out some new toys. I got Gavin a Rossi single barrel rifle in .243 for Christmas, I got a CVA Kodiak magnum .50 cal. muzzle loader from My parents, and with the generosity of my boss, I was able to buy myself a Charles Dailey compact 1911 .45 auto.It's kinda embarrassing, but for all the different guns I've been able to shoot, I've never even shouldered a muzzle loader. But there was a fella at the range who took the time to go over everything with me. Don't think I know enough about them to say much more, but it was a fine shooter, and it'll kill a deer, even with me behind the sights.On the other hand, the 1911 was perfect. Charles Dailey puts together a nice package. For a pistol that retails for about $1000, You would expect a smooth, solid gun with all the add-on junk like an extended beavertail grip safety, a combat hammer, tapered bull barrel (Which eliminated the barrel bushing), A full length guide rod, nice big combat sights, And a smooth crisp trigger that breaks right around 4 lbs. But this gun retails somewhere around 500 bucks. I know this sound like I'm being paid by Charles Dailey, but I was really impressed by this gun. I've never really liked the idea of the full guide rod, I guess its just "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kinda thinking. But the difference is amazing. The gun feels more solid, and it's got a more positive lock up. Anyway, Great gun.Now this Is where I need some help. My boys rifle. It is a good gun, shoots great, easy to operate, even for a small framed boy of 8 years. We got it sighted in, and it held pretty good groups for me, So I know the scope is holding zero. But when the boy got behind it, the target looked like it was used in a turkey shoot. And this was at 50 yards. Now I know he can shoot, he's been very good for some time now, 4" groups at 100 yards with an iron sighted 22. So his ability to shoot is not the problem. This is the first time he's used a scope. Normally it's the other way around, you teach a youngster how to shoot a rifle with a scope first, and give them iron sights and they couldn't hit a buffalo at 10 paces. I didn't know this delima worked in reverse too. So I'll leave with this, how do I teach a boy who is proficient with open sights how to use a scoped rifle? The comment button is right down there, If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.(Well I guess I'd be all eyes in this case, whatever you know what I mean.)

06 December 2006

HOW TO STOP ISLAMIC TERRORISTS...... it worked once in our History...Once in U.S. history an episode of Islamic terrorism was very quickly stopped. It happened in the Philippines about 1911, when Gen. John J. Pershing was in command of the garrison. There had been numerous Islamic terrorist attacks, so "Black Jack" told his boys to catch the perps and teach them a lesson.Forced to dig their own graves, the terrorists were all tied to posts, execution style. The U.S. soldiers then brought in pigs and slaughtered them, rubbing their bullets in the blood and fat. Thus, the terrorists were terrorized; they saw that they would be contaminated with hogs' blood. This would mean that they could not enter Heaven, even if they died as terrorist martyrs.All but one was shot, their bodies dumped into the grave, and the hog guts dumped atop the bodies. The lone survivor was allowed to escape back to the terrorist camp and tell his brethren what happened to the others. This brought a stop to terrorism in the Philippines for the next 50 years.Pointing a gun into the face of Islamic terrorists won't make them flinch.They welcome the chance to die for Allah. Like Gen. Pershing, we must show them that they won't get to Muslim heaven (which they believe has an endless supply of virgins) but instead will die with the hated pigs of the devil.

30 September 2006

The North American union. The United States of America will become the cream between the socialist, liberal, anti-gun Canada, and the economical dead, crime ridden, abuser of our laws Mexico, Oreo cookie. IN WHAT WORLD DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE!?! And to spread the icing on real smooth, the new currency will be the Amero. I kinda feel like Grover in the book, "There's a monster at the end of this book" where fuzzy little Grover goes into insane fits because we, the readers keep turning the pages and bringing him closer to the monster at the end. I know that's a kids book and not for real, but the similarities are scary when you consider the child-like minds of those in charge of this country, and the monsters they bring out with their ridiculous ideas. (for those of you who think I've lost it, and have no idea what book I'm talking about, have kids and it'll all come together for you)I guess this is how the boneheads in the big domed buildingfix the illegal alien problem, make all the Mexicans American citizens, even if they still live in Mexico. Tear down all the fences, fire all the border control agents, Change the national language to Mexican... Wait a minute, that's a full surrender. We should see if that logic would work in sand land, "hey Osama, Al queda, Taliban, and Hezbollah, come on over, you are now Americans, you are welcome here, we'll change our dollar to the walla-walla or whatever you use, and we'll all speak camel." I hope no one in congress reads this, they might run with it.Well, I guess its not the dumbest thing our government has done, well... wasn't there that time when... no, how about... O.K. maybe it is .

27 September 2006

Data released by the FBI on Monday showed that in 2005, the nations total violent crime rate was 38% lower than in 1991, when violent crime hit an all-time high. Rates of the individual categories of violent crime were also much lower in 2005 than in 1991. Murder was 43% lower, rape 25% lower, robbery 48% lower, and aggravated assault 33% lower. The FBI’s report came on the heels of a Bureau of Justice Statistics crime survey that found that violent crime was lower in 2005 than anytime in the surveys 32-year history.If you think I found this on the front page of the Washington Post, then let me be the first person to welcome you back from Mars. This should be overwelming evidence that guns are not the cause of crime, and that allowing citizens to own and carry firearms IS THE ONLY WAY to reduce crime. But just to prove the agena of the anti-gun clowns, they have focused on the 2% increase in violent crime from 2004-2005. Why is it that no level of proof will change the minds of the so called "open minded" liberals? As usual, Washington, D.C., which leads the nation in anti-gun laws, led the nation in murder, with a rate six times higher than the rest of the country. Neighboring Maryland, where gun control advocates have been particularly active recently, once again had the highest robbery rate among the states, but also tied for the unenviable distinction of “first place” in murder among the states. However, despite Maryland’s high crime counts, CeaseFire Maryland, the local Brady Campaign cronnies that recently released a paper demanding an “assault weapon” ban, was unable to point to any crimes in the state involving such a gun. And that to would be a good reason to find another cause. But no, my home state of maryland will continue to cause more crime with "strong" gun control laws. I always thought that thinking people found what works, and does it. I guess if what you are is a liberal, you continue to do what's wrong, and just try to keep us sheeple to stupid to see it.

13 September 2006

I've wanted a trail camera for a while, but the cost allowed them to stay on the store shelves. But last year, a cheap, 35mm trail cam was available for about 50 bucks. I am too impatient to go through the film developing process for that though, so I didn't get one. there was a VGA digital cam for about $150, but I couldn't justify the funds just to take pictures of deer. And it was less than 1 mega pixel, so I can only imagine how lousy the pictures would be. So I was stuck looking at deer tracks alone.

Just as with every other bit of technology though, the trail cam got cheap! Moultrie feeders released the Game Watcher 2.1 digital game camera. Its a 2.1 mp camera, with a 30' flash, an internal memory and an SD card slot. The internal memory holds 120 low quality and 25 high quality pictures, but a 500Mb SD card hold 1000 high quality and 3000 low quality pictures. It also does video, but its real choppy, and it converts to still at night.

Me and my son got the camera, with a bag of deer corn, set up our deer ambush. Not knowing what to expect, we checked it the next day, and found it had 7 pictures on it. Man we were excited, I hooked my computer to it and we had genuine photos of 2 squirrels, 3 crows, an 8 year old boy, and a 4 year old girl in some kind of ballet spin. I guess if that's why you bought the stinkin' camera, you'd be pretty excited. But we were sure we would see the 12 point monster we know is back there, we've just never seen it cause we didn't have a camera. The next few days were about the same a whole lot of excitement just to find a few rodents and a Ballerina. But after a few days, Gavin told me that the memory was full, I was of course convinced that my kids decided to play in the woods all day, which by the way does not attract deer, but when I hooked it up, the first picture was an 8 pointer in full velvet, and the following 119 were various bucks and does. I even had some with 4 and 5 deer in one picture. And since then the memory has stayed full, and I have a couple of thousand pictures of deer, raccoons, foxes, and yes, squirrels and ballerinas.

The camera has been a success, and has paid for itself over and over again if you consider the cost of developing 35mm film. I paid about $70 for it as Wal-mart, at that price, there's no reason anyone who hunts couldn't have one. Moultrie has put together a good camera at a good price, and I have the Ballerina to prove it.

Due to the extreme pain in the butt caused by uploading photos, you'll have to look at my last post to see pictures of my future meals.

12 September 2006

Friday, September 15, 2006 will mark the first day of bow hunting in Maryland this year. Not very momentous for many, but this day also marks the very first day of bow hunting for The Boy. We have our blinds dug out, our deer comin' in, and Gavin Shooting fleas off of dogs backs with his bow. So I hope to have his first deer kill pictured here Friday night. Gavin has dibs on the eight pointer. Wish us luck.

07 September 2006

What do you do when an unknown dog comes into your yard, barks at you, and doesn't heed your warning to leave (ie. yelling, jumping and clapping)? Unfortunately the answer for most would be to retreat into your house and call animal control. Animal control would then arrive 45 minutes later to find, surprise, no dog, and tell you to call back if you see it again. Well what works for some, just ain't the way it's done here.You see, I have a son, who is 8, 3 daughters, 4, 2 & 9 months, and a pregnant wife. I will not allow them to be harmed in any way. So I figured that when I saw the dog again, I would go through the ridiculous tribal dance of shooing it away, and when that didn't work, for the safety of my family, I would shoot it. What I didn't expect was for it to come back while I was at the store.My son and 2 year old daughter were in the trampoline and the dog came back, my wife saw the dog and called for the kids. Gavin said to get his shotgun and shoot it, but she didn't know how to shoot his Stoeger 20 gauge. So my wife brought the gun to Gavin and walked Savannah back to the porch while Gavin trained the gun on the dog and walked backwards to the porch himself. He then proceeded to yell and make a bunch of noise to scare the dog away, but that did nothing and the dog started advancing on my son. Without a second thought, and the safety of his Mama and sisters in mind, he took aim and pulled the trigger, spraying bird shot square into the dogs face. The dog yelped, spun a few times, and ran off. The threat had been neutralized, and Gavin was a knight in shining armor to the girls in this house.When I got home, He met me at my truck breathing heavy saying," Dad, I did what I had to do." To an adult, this may not seem too monumental, but my boy is 8, he was left with the responsibility to keep his family safe, and he was able to answer the call. Way to go Gavin, your the hero of the day!

01 August 2006

What is a man? Any male over the age of 18? Nope. Any male who can down 12 beers in 30 minutes? Nah. How about someone who sits around on Sunday watching football and scratching his rear while drinking 12 beers before the end of the first quarter? Sadly, not even close. And I dare not say one of the new variety, who carries palm pilots, and blackberries and wears pink shirts to the office all the while trying not to spill his double-soy-mocha-lo-fat-chi-latte-frappuccino with an extra shot of espresso. This guy would probably die of exposure on an 80 degree day if his A/C broke.No, I'm talking about a real man, a survivor. A man who can live on the land just as well as he can with all our conveniences. One who if lost in the woods, had the good sense God gave him to kill and eat, to build shelter, to find his way out, or live long enough to be found. A man who hunts, (for more than just wall decorations) for his food, and can have the pride that comes with knowing that it was his gun and his wits that allowed his family to eat today. A man is someone who has better things to do with his time than sitting around watching T.V., like teaching his son how to be a man. A man works with his hands, and builds things, and fixes things. A man does not have to call the A/C man to change the air filter in his house. He does not have to pay someone to change the oil in his car, he probably doesn't even have a car, he's got a truck. (just kidding on the last one, But if it's made by Honda, Toyota, Nissan, or the like, or if it's battery powered, I kind of doubt it) A man is someone who can save his family money by knowing how to work on his vehicles, and his home. There's nothin worse than paying someone 5 times as much to do something you should know how to do.A man is someone who is strong, who can protect those he loves, and anyone else who needs his protection. Someone with a strong heart, who stands up for whats right, and what he believes in in the face of opposition. A man has dignity, and wouldn't be caught dead sitting in a seat while there is a woman left standing, who would open the door for a woman because its the right thing to do.A man is one who treats his wife with love and respect, while leading his family in the right direction.(Ephesians 5:25) Not one who degrades and disrespect his wife all the while being ruled like a little puppy-dog by her. One who when guys at work start whining about their rulers, (wives) has the dignity and respect for his wife to avoid the conversation or speak good about her, not participate in stupid childish complaining just to fit in.A man is one who has time to devote to the training and raising up of his children, to teach his boys how to become men, and treats his girls like princesses. A boy's marriage will depend on whether or not he was taught how to be a man. And a girl will probably look for a man like her father, that's good if he's a real man, but if he's like one of those in the first paragraph, well...What I'm sayin is, I'm seeing way too many males who don't understand that there's more to being a man than what you got hangin'. It's about who you are, and what you believe in. And the trend is sadly going down the wrong path, and it will only get worse. Somewhere along the line, Masculinity, and the pride that came with it gave in to feminism, sensitivity, and Starbucks, and I think its time to get it back. So, to all the real men reading this, it's up to you what your sons will become, be vigilant, the next generation depends on you, and to everyone else, don't spill your coffee.

04 June 2006

In a day of high dollar, super-match-target rifles that are said to put a bullet through the eye of a needle at 200 yards, one would think that only the rich, the powerful, or just the insanely lucky (gun writers) will be able to enjoy a truly fine rifle. Well, I've got some good news for you. Let me introduce you to the Olympic arms K-16. I bought this gun a couple of years ago at a gun show after years of wanting an AR-15, it cost me around $600 which is a lot for me, but nothing compared to what's out there. The real surprise was when I got it on the range. I put a Simmons 4-12x Scope from walmart on the picatinny rail, and put the first 5 Winchester 55gr fmj rounds into a nice little 3/4"- 1" hole. And it's done it ever since. I've now put probably 10,000 through it easy, and the only malfunction was a broken trigger pin after about 8,000 rounds. I have never had a jam, misfeed, or any other malfunction with this rifle.I have since replaced the A2 stock with a collapsible job, installed a FIRSH handguard, and an Aimpoint red dot sight for QCB work, Or fun, however one looks at it. I was going to replace the trigger because that's just what people do, but the single stage trigger breaks very crisp at about 4 pounds, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I did however replace the grip with a Hogue rubber coated grip, It makes a huge difference in the way the rifle feels in your hand.I have shot many $1,500+ rifles that didn't shoot as well as the K-16, thumbs up to Olympic arms for putting together such a good rifle, and keeping it close to where real people can afford it.